I believe podcasting is the BEST way for YOU to share a message to change the world! I give you the guts and teach you the tools to launch and improve your own podcast for passion and P.R.O.F.I.T. (popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, or tangibles)! Through each episode, I strive to help you communicate better, fully leverage audio and video gear, use podcasting tools for higher quality and efficiency, become an engaging interviewer, improve your podcast website, grow your podcast, and more! My goal is to help you and your audience get P.R.O.F.I.T. from your podcast: popularity, relationships, opportunities, fun, income, or tangibles. From each episode, you'll get inspiration, learn easy-to-follow steps, and discover resources to help you podcast better. Please join me, Daniel J. Lewis, and I will give you THE AUDACITY to podcast! (audacitytestdescriptionkeyword)
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episode 349: Premium Subscriptions and More Coming to Apple Podcasts
In Apple's live-streamed presentation on April 20, 2021, they announced several new products and offerings. But in only a couple minutes, Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned Apple Podcasts with announcements that will affect the whole industry.
Disclaimer: This episode contains my live-streamed initial thoughts, along with consenting participants, recorded shortly after Apple's presentation. Any misrepresentations are accidental.
“Subscribe” changed to “follow”
The first change is something we've known about for a few months. With iOS 14.5 and macOS 11.3, Apple is changing the label for getting episodes automatically from “subscribe” to “follow.” While I and many other podcasters rarely saw issues with the word “subscribe,” frequent studies and experiences have demonstrated that most people think you have to pay when you subscribe. For example, subscribing to a newspaper, streaming entertainment, Internet service, and such.
But while I feel like the word “follow” implies a more personal thing, like following a person or a brand on social media, I think it removes the potential misunderstanding about any involved costs. Spotify and a couple other podcast apps already use the word “follow,” and Twitch even already uses both “subscribe” and “follow” on the same platform to mean different things: subscribe to pay the content creator, or follow to simply see when they publish new content.
I suspect YouTube and other podcast apps will soon follow suit (pun unavoidable).
I also really like this change because for a long time, I've wanted to add a new feature to My Podcast Reviews to help podcasters grow their audiences by providing a smart link with the right podcast options. I quickly registered FollowthePodcast.com and we launched that as an included new feature on My Podcast Reviews!
So even though you might still be struggling to say “Apple Podcasts” instead of “iTunes,” I think switching from saying “subscribe” to “follow” will not only match current and future options, but maybe even help you get more listeners because they'll understand quicker.
Premium subscriptions in Apple Podcasts
If you didn't already read it, here's the emailed announcement from Apple. I recommend you read all the links, too.
Dear Podcast Creator,We are thrilled to share the following announcements and updates.Introducing Apple Podcasts SubscriptionsStarting today, creators in more than 170 countries and regions can offer premium subscriptions on Apple Podcasts, which will be accessible to listeners next month. Creators set the pricing for each subscription, which are billed monthly by default, and define the benefits, such as ad-free listening, early or exclusive access to new series, or access to additional or archival content. Creators can also offer annual billing and provide free trials and sample episodes.Creators interested in offering subscriptions can log in to Apple Podcasts Connect and enroll in the new